What Media Buys Are and How They Work

“Media Buys” is a term you’ll often hear in marketing circles.  They are widely used, yet some people still don’t understand what they are.  To put it as simply as possible, a media buy is basically advertising space purchased on some sort of media, like a website ad or TV commercial.

There are a great range of options when it comes to media buys and each one has its benefits and drawbacks.  Some companies will spend millions of dollars every year and need to hire a dedicated media buyer to handle it all.  It’s actually quite easy to end up spending a significant amount of money, but you don’t need to break the bank if you know what you’re doing.

What media can you buy?

 Advertising space can be purchased on every form of media imaginable.  Television commercials and radio spots have long been popular options.  Space can also be purchased in magazines, newspapers, or circulars as well.

With the rise of the internet, however, web-based media buying has become a huge industry.  Websites of every type in nearly every market will sell advertising space.  Think of every website you’ve ever seen with ad space on them! This can often be a low-cost option that will still reach a large audience.

How to Know What to Buy

 They key to getting the best return on a media buy is to have an effective plan laid out before you spend any money.  Focus on developing a specific strategy.  You’ll want to know who your target audience is, how much you’re willing to spend, and what you want to get out of it.

One mistake many people make is buying a lot of ad space right off the bat, lured by the total number of views without regard for how relevant the ads will be to their audience.

Just as with anything in business, you need to have a plan to follow or you’ll get lost.  Media buys can either be a great investment or a total waste of money.  Having a focused plan is what makes the difference.

Where to Buy

 The strategy you develop needs to be focused on a target customer or audience, because this will tell you where to buy your media space.  Consider your ideal customer.  Do a little research to determine what sort of media they consume on a regular basis and what will get them to engage with your marketing.

When it comes to websites, you’ll want to pay attention to the traffic stats for each site.  If the visitors fall into the same range of age, location, and financial ability as your target customer, then this is a great option.

Determining Value

 It’s important to test a number of different media buying options to find the best one.  You can do this by assigning a value to each one after you’ve run some test campaigns.  Simply take the cost of the media buy and compare it to the traffic it generated.  Then, take that and compare it to the number of sales or leads generated from the campaign.

Media buys can be a wonderful way to increase the awareness of a product, promote a brand, or generate revenue through sales.  Once the media is bought, it is basically fully automated so it’s also one of the easiest marketing options around.

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